Reaching for the stars
by foxyboy
Summary: Misao's birthday is coming up but for some reason... She doesn't seem all too happy about it...
1. Default Chapter

Lasting impression; Gundam Wing A:link {colorblue; text-decoration:none} A:active {colorviolet; Text-decoration:underline} A:visited {color#C051FF; Text-decoration:none} A:hover {colorRed; Text-decoration:none} 

Reaching for the Stars  


Makimachi Misao was sixteen, turning 17 within the hour. Okina and the other Oniwabanshuu were hustling to prepare the perfect surprise party for the self-proclaimed leader of the gang of ninja's, although they had very little success in keeping it a "secret". Misao knew, and all she did was smile and act as if nothing happened. As if her birthday meant so little to her. 

She was aging, and with age comes wisdom. They say that experience is the best teacher. Misao was the best student. Birthdays were celebrated in the normal fashion; eating, drinking and the like. But experience taught her something else. Birthdays aren't always the best day of your life. 

Birthdays weren't as special when the family wasn't complete. 

Misao sat there, smiling and laughing with the other's. Merrily drinking small portions of sake, eating delicacies reserved only for this time of year... And most of all, admiring each and every member of the Oniwabanshuu. Okina, depite his age and lechery, was a refined man of great skill. She held him in the highest respect, maybe surpassing Kenshin himself. Okon and Omasu, two of her closest female friends, were also two of the best people she knew of. Both were completely fun to be with, both were beautiful, and both were her comrades. She's come so far with them that they were practically sisters. Then there was Shiroju and Kuroju. Two fine ninja's, complete gentlemen, and of course, trusted friends. 

And then there was Shinomori, the leader. 

He was the one that meant the most to her. He meant so much to her... Perhaps, even more so than her actual parents. More so than her closest friends. 

She knew she was in love. She knew that this feeling of burning inside her was because of him. It was all because of hher love for him that she's been here. Training, serving, accompanying.... She did this all just to be able to be with him. It was madness, the way she would go after him. But madness may be all she had, and madness was never a sin. 

But in the meanwhile, she would drink and make merry. Passing the time away, hoping against hope that Aoshi would finally come to her birthday celebration. 

He never did. He never has. 

Misao was also Experience's most stubborn student. 

Hours passed, and the Aoiya was closed. The party was over, and all that was left was the clean-up. Every year, she would be saddened by the fact that Aoshi was never there for her. And every year, she would cry late at night, after the celebrations. She could not bear this kind of rejection. Misao walked out of the Aoiya, and on to Kyoto's streets. She would walk far, and to the kind of place that Himura would oftentimes go to when he wanted to be alone. 

It was a riverbank, where the fireflies would gather; glittering like teardrops by the full moon. She sat down, in a place closest to the river, where she would look at the moon's crystal clear reflection on the still, glass-like water. 

"Aoshi-sama... Do you remember how we used to sit for long hours just staring at the stars?" She would say to herself, hoping that someone would answer. Naturally, no one did. She pointed out one weak, quivering finger to the stars above, tears slowly forming in the edges of her eyes. 

"Do you remember when you promised to be with me forever? How you said that you would never, ever hurt me?" Those gentle tears that slowly slid from her eyes started falling, like they did every birthday. She would always ask the same question every year... And every year, there was no answer. 

"Aoshi-sama... Aoshi-sama... Aoshi... Ao...shi..." Her voice died down as her sobbing took her over. She was hurting herself even more by thinking of him. But that was all that she could do. Think of him. Dream of him. The same man that was her reason for living, was also the same man that could be her reason for dying. All it would take was one small movement and her Kunai would find a soft place to rest somewhere on her body. 

But as experience taught her: "Dying, is only the way to a much bigger problem." She would never raise her hand to harm herself... Never. 

"Aoshi-sama. Stars are so far away, and yet we wish to reach them. Maybe the same would go for you." Try to reach something that you can't get and what will be your reward? Misao knew all too well... She was Experience's best student after all. 

_The end...?_

Ramblings: 

1)Umm... Comments? I guess it's nice but... Please! Any suggestions people? I'm also thinking of a part two, this time, on Aoshi's part but I don't want it to turn out as bad as this... -_-  
  
2) All comments and Constructive Criticisms will be appreciated! Email me @ [Tru_blu_FY@angelfire.com][1]

   [1]: Mailto:Tru_blu_FY@angelfire.com



	2. AOSHI

Reaching for the stars, II A:link {color #000FFF; TEXT-DECORATION: none} A:active {color purple; TEXT-DECORATION: none} A:visited {color #654fda; TEXT-DECORATION: none} A:hover {color #0FD2F6; TEXT-DECORATION: none} 

Reaching for the stars II  
By [Foxyboy][1]

  
"Starless" From Rurouni Kenshin 

Well, it's part two of the Reach for the stars series which I have been pressed to continue. Misao is finally Eighteen but that didn't matter to her. It did matter to someone else though... And now he just can't live with himself...  


It was late night and still the young girl was wide awake, yet deperately trying to go to sleep. Her birthday was over, and like always, Aoshi didn't make an appearance. Misao didn't know why but she expected so much of him... She wanted him to be there for her. She wanted the Shinomori that she wanted there, showing her the love she knew he had inside. She wanted so much and yet she received so little... 

And so he never came. Neither to her birthday celebration or to her. 

She had to act strong to be the leader of the Oniwabanshuu but everyone else knew that she couldn't keep this up. This facade of being strong, like a good leader should. 

They also knew that Aoshi was deeply in love with Misao... And that they knew that one day, this facade of callousness would fade... Lovers are blind, but neighbors were not. 

Misao didn't mind the fact that Aoshi did not seem to care, she knew that for a fact that he cared for her deep within. But it so frustrated her because she didn't know when Aoshi's shell was going to break... And she so wanted it to. 

* * * 

Twilight sunshine touched her sleeping eyes softly. The sound of birds sweetly singing woke her from her shallow sleep. 

"Morning..." She looked around, realizing that she wasn't in her room. She had already fallen asleep outside, her head resting on a tree that overlooked the river. She had fallen asleep last night, probably while crying, and didn't realize it until now. She rubbed her eyes free from drowsiness and began the walk home. 

It was very early in the morning, somewhere around 5 o'clock she assumed. The once busy streets of Kyoto were all so silent and so peaceful as they stood there, bathing in the weak morning light. Not a person was in sight, not a single sign of life. It seemed so desolate but still so full of rising anticipation. People would soon come out of those shut doors and business would once again commence and the town would be woken from that same sleep it was in. 

Misao crept into the Aoiya and it was fairly easy since she was the self-appointed leader of the Oniwabanshuu. Her feet moved with such subtlety and with such cat-like grace that even though she stepped on falling autumn leaves, they did not even make a rustle. She went around, trying to see if any of them were already awake. Okina was fast asleep and so were Okon and Omasu. Kuroju and Shiroju were as well, fast asleep. 

And now her heart raced. Her blood pulsated throughout her entire body as that one single thought stuck in her mind. 

"Aoshi-sama..." She walked, her feet were gaining speed as every second passed by, in anticipation of the person that she wanted to be with the most. She sprinted towards the one place that she always remembered as where she would always find Aoshi alone... When she needed him the most... 

The Shrine. The same shrine that Aoshi always prayed in... Where he would spend hours and hours alone... In deep meditation with himself... 

And, dreaming that it would be true, herself. She wanted so much to be what he thought of, every second, every moment, every time the clock would stand still, as if teasing her. 

He wasn't there... When she needed him most. Misao fell to the floor, and burst into tears, uttering Aoshi's name to herself as her hands covered her sobbing face. 

* * * 

The morning sun washed all over his body as he quietly made his way up the beaten pathway. The man had eyes as cold as steel, yet also as warm as the Winter sunshine as it poured down on those lonesome, chilly days... 

His body stood proud, poised, and silent. His Kodachi, at his side, like they have always been from the first day his hands had gripped them. He emanated the aura of a merciless, hateful and savage killer. But somehow, he also shed the light of an elegant and even delicate warrior... Unknowingly, he himself had his own faults, although he would rather die than admit them... Or even hear anyone speak of them. 

He was a paradox of everything that everyone had known of him. One person views him as the most perfect thing in the world, while others simply view him as a persistent samurai that would just not give up the ways of Bushido. Yes, he was a paradox of many different things and opinions... But none of them really mattered... 

Only her's did. 

How could he forget the same time he himself had thrown her out the window? The same day that he had completely shattered her slightly deluded perception of the man she knew as Aoshi Shinomori. The same hour that he had used to fight the man that the both of them looked up to. 

The same minute that he had let go of her, personally. 

He wanted to turn back time and redo everything he could have to have given her a better childhood. One without having to run around Japan constantly searching for the man she loved. 

And now, he stood there, where all her suffering began. Where he himself had told her to go away and never come back... 

He may be mature in mentality, but he was still far too young to reminisce. He should leave that for all the years ahead of him. 

There was no need for words, for he knew that the soil, wind and trees remember the blood spilt on their once clean earth. He knew that each and every thing in existence had a soul, a heart, and they felt every sigle foot step, every blow, every clang of steel against steel on that day. 

He wished he could turn back time and make things better... He wished so much for that. 

He was scared, yet he would hate to admit that fear lived in that heart of his. All that he truly feared was the fact that he may never actually really love her... The same way that she loved him. He didn't know how to say it, nor did he have enough courage to even whisper it to her in private. 

He was in fear of a girl, and a girl who would not fight him for any reason at all... It was this fear that held the two apart... No matter how much someone says I love you, you still need a partner to dance to a love song... 

Aoshi wanted to give her all she wanted, but he just couldn't. He couldn't give her anything in return for all the loyalty and love that she showed him. 

It was like trying to reach for the stars. And we know, that stars can almost never be reached. 

...Almost... 

: : owari : : 

Ramble:  
  
1) Ehh.. Part two, a very boring and stupid part two. I think I portrayed Aoshi in a completely horrid fashion...  
  
2) Any Constructive Criticisms? I know I suck at writing so I want you to help me! After all, How much could a little bit of your mentality cost?  
  
3) It's an absolutely crappy ending, I know... Believe me, I know! 

   [1]: Mailto:tru_blu_FY@angelfire.com



	3. FINALE

Reaching for the stars, III A:link {color #000FFF; TEXT-DECORATION: none} A:active {color purple; TEXT-DECORATION: none} A:visited {color #654fda; TEXT-DECORATION: none} A:hover {color #0FD2F6; TEXT-DECORATION: none} 

Reaching for the stars III  
-- Finale --  
By [Foxyboy][1]

  
"Starless" From Rurouni Kenshin 

The clouds have passed and the sun shines on.  
  
If only life were as simple as having to go through hell only once. If only...  
  
Unsure, unknowing, even confused, that was what Aoshi was. He couldn't keep track of how his heart felt and how his being ached. He had no power over something that was even beyond a God's understanding. Without a doubt, Misao wasn't the small girl that she was before, not anymore the hyperactive kid that just wanted to play. No, she wasn't.  
  
Misao was seventeen. That's seventeen years of not seeing her birthday.  
  
He has his regrets, God knows he has his regrets! But maybe this was one of the more important ones. Maybe it's because it didn't involve him only, maybe it was because he was deep in over his head. Whatever the reason, he knew that this mattered to him more than any of the past issues he's learnt to deal with.  
  
Misao was seventeen. God, she's already that old...  
  
Aoshi broke the prevalent stillness. "Are you listening?" He asked the air. "I know you are. You've always been listening and you never did anything about it." Silence crept in, Aoshi's body clearly showing tension, difficulty and nervousness of every word that left his rarely parted lips.  
  
"I want you to stay here and I want you to stay out of my life. I don't want you around anymore and there's no way in this screwed-up world that you're going to prove me wrong."  
  
Why did goodbyes always prove to be so difficult? Why can't saying a few words be so easy?  
  
"It's been great. We've had a lot of great times, you and me. But I'm not the same Aoshi that you knew." The same old Aoshi that we knew? Was there really an "AOSHI" that we knew? Did we even know who or what this person was? We had no idea. Probably, neither did Shinomori. "I've changed. At least, I'm trying to. Go away, this isn't the right time for me to talk to you."  
  
Humanity has its flaws; some more evident than others may ever become. Flaws were flaws and no one had the power, nor the mind to deny this universal truth. There is no perfection and there is no higher state of being. Aoshi Shinomori was a man that knew of this first hand. Was there any meaning to his meditation? Was there any meaning to his existence and his constant search for a higher truth and his unending quest to prove himself to himself? There was probably none. But that was all in the past.  
  
Everything's in the past now...  
  


* * * * *

Was he ever coming back? Was the man that she knew off when she was but a small girl ever coming back? Back to her with arms wide open? Arms ready to receive her and the love that came with her?  
  
Foolish dreams, she thought. They were that at least, just the little dreams that a little girl had in her little head. At most, they were delusions, the wandering thoughts of a madman, a person obsessed with another person.  
  
Love was so complicated. I think she prefered to call Love a bitch.  
  
"Aoshi no baka... How can't he understand?" Has anyone ever wondered why the rest of the world seems to hate you when you think that you'll never get what you want? What was the reason why Aoshi could never even try to say a single word to Misao that seemed to even hint of romantic interest? She knew that he loved her, it was evident in his eyes, in his tone of voice, and most of all, in the smile that he gave her, only.  
  
"Baka, baka, baka..." She found herself saying in a monotonous voice that signalled only irritation. Was she not good enough? What was it that Aoshi wanted that she could not give? Wasn't she the kind of person that everyone said was perfect for the leader of the oniwabashuu? No... There were reasons why Aoshi decided to space himself from this girl but what reason could be more important than her love?  
  
She was beginning to delve into mindless banter, mostly on the side of her so-called love. She didn't try to understand the complex psyche of this man, partly because it wasn't all that easy to read the mind of a person who hid himself so well among the thorns of battle. If she really loved him, wouldn't she at least try to love him even though he never showed that love for her?  
  
She's been doing that for how many years now. Seventeen years... Seventeen years of suffering for this man that she was beginning to hate now...  
  
Oh yes, love was indeed a bitch. Venus was obviously having a lot of fun with this girl.  
  


* * * * *

There he was, standing in front of the place that was his home. A place that contained his family, the people that really cared for him. Three members were gone but that didn't mean that he had any right to leave the other members of this close circle.  
  
He knew that he suffered from an intense inferiority complex towards Himura. Was it really an inferiority complex? Maybe it was more of this senseless striving to be perfect, to be the one thing that no one else has ever become... His training and meditation were the best examples of this...  
  
But what is to be perfect if but to prove it to someone? Was he trying to prove it to himself? Was he trying so hard for such a selfish dream? Was he trying to prove that he was the best to everyone else?  
  
Or was he trying to prove that he could be the best man for the best woman ever?  
  
Now it was his turn to delve into mindless banter. The two had so much in common but no one ever had the chance to see it. Now, he had to show someone that they were more than two seperate people. Now it was his turn to show her that he really did love her.  
  
Slowly, he entered the Aoiya. Stealthily, like always, he searched the rooms for the sleeping bodice of a certain birthday girl. She was nowhere to be found...  
  
"...Odd. Where could Misao be?"  
  


* * * * *

Daydreaming, that was what she was doing. That was what her stray mind was intently attempting to do as of right now. To dream of him, to dream of Aoshi holding her and kissing her. Silly dreams, she thought...  
  
She always had this knack to see things in the wrong light.  
  
"Misao..." A voice. The same voice that she dreamt of. The same voice that she wanted to hear so much. But now, she could not force her frozen body to face this man, this person that she was obsessed with. Why? She did not know why. She just couldnt...  
  
Silence. The same silence that was always with him and every moment that he was with her.  
  
Silence no more.  
  
"Happy birthday."  
  
Were those words that Aoshi spoke? Words that came from his mouth? Or more importantly, from within his heart? How strange, even scary, for Aoshi to say the word happy... Her body, once frozen by not knowing the possible circumstance that accompanied his preseence, was now freed by knowing that he did care...  
  
That he could feel for her.  
  
"Aoshi-sama..." She said as he caught her in his arms, her face buried in his shoulder. Her arms were wrapped around his torso, for the very first time. She never knew that Aoshi could feel this good in her arms... His scent, his essence, everything was going inside her brain, registering it for the first time.  
  
"I'm so sorry for not being there for you..."  
  
Now they knew that there was something between them.  
  
Now love wasn't so much of a bitch as she thought. Venus sighs sadly and goes off to find another playmate.  
  
Who ever knew that stars could actually be reached? 

: : owari : : 

Ramble:  
  
1) The end, and it was one out of boredom. Sorry if it's crap. I don't feel so artistic now...  
  
2) Any Constructive Criticisms? I know I suck at writing so I want you to help me! After all, How much could a little bit of your mentality cost?  
  


   [1]: Mailto:tru_blu_FY@angelfire.com



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